Vehicle cooling system

ABSTRACT

A vehicle cooling system includes a fan, a first heat exchanger, an upper heat exchanger and a lower heat exchanger. The first heat exchanger is spaced apart in front of the fan. The upper heat exchanger is positioned between a top portion of the fan and a top portion of the first heat exchanger. The lower heat exchanger is positioned between a bottom portion of the fan and a bottom portion of the first heat exchanger. A structural frame supports the first, top and lower heat exchangers, and the frame forming a fan shroud which surrounds the fan.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle cooling system having a plurality of heat exchangers and a fan.

BACKGROUND

Conventional vehicle cooling systems include a single stack of coolers. When cooling air blows through such a cooling system on a vehicle, a larger pressure drop for the cooling air across the stack of coolers reduces the ability to flow air through the system. This increases the power required to gain sufficient airflow to cool the vehicle. Coolers that are downstream in the stack receive cooling air that has already been heated by the coolers in front of them. This decreases the efficiency of the rear coolers. The air velocity must also be high on a single stack of coolers which can lead to debris buildup on coolers or the front grill screen if the machine is operating in a dirty environment.

Vehicle cooling arrangements with multiple cooling units arranged around a chamber or volume are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,178 issued in 2006, U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,801 issued in 2002, U.S. Pat. No. 8,167,067 issued in 2012 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,204,329 issued in 2007 and assigned to the assignee of this application. However, none of these cooling arrangements includes a cooler located at the bottom of a volume defined by the cooling units.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a multi-faced assembly of cooling units locates the different coolers in an C shaped array around a single cooling fan. A charge air cooler is oriented substantially horizontally and is positioned at the top of the assembly. A hydraulic oil cooler is oriented substantially horizontally and is positioned at the bottom of the assembly. A radiator, condenser and fuel coolers are oriented substantially vertically and are positioned at the front of the assembly. A single cooling fan is located at the rear and pulls air through all the coolers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a right front top perspective view of a vehicle cooling assembly embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a right rear perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1 with parts removed for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a right rear bottom perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1 with parts removed for clarity;

FIG. 4 is a right rear top perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is left rear top perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a right front top perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1 with the top heat exchanger removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a vehicle, such as an agricultural tractor, includes a cooling assembly 10 and a structural frame 12 which is attached to the vehicle chassis (not shown). The frame 12 includes a bottom part 14, a left side part 16 and a right side part 18. The frame 12 supports the cooling assembly 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, brackets 24 and 26 are attached to the frame 12 and depend downwardly from a base 25. The base 25 support a radiator or front frame 28. The radiator frame 28 includes a bottom panel 30, a left panel 32 and a right panel 34. Also supported by the brackets 24 and 26 is an upper cooler frame 36 and a bottom cooler frame 38. Upper cooler frame 36 includes a rear panel 40, a left panel 42 and a right panel 44 and a front panel 46. Lower cooler frame 38 includes a rear panel 47, a left panel 48, a right panel 50 and a front panel 52. Left and right support arms 54 and 56 extend diagonally upwardly and rearwardly from the front panel 52 of bottom cooler frame 38 to the rear panel 40 of upper cooler frame 36. Upper cooler frame 36 slopes upwardly from front to rear. Bottom cooler frame 38 slopes downwardly from front to rear.

The radiator frame 28 supports and partially encloses a first or front cooler or heat exchanger 60, preferably a conventional vertically oriented radiator. The upper cooler frame 36 supports and partially encloses a second or top cooler or heat exchange unit 62, preferably a charge air cooler. The bottom cooler frame 38 supports and partially encloses a third or bottom cooler or heat exchange unit 64, preferably an hydraulic oil cooler. Viewed from the left side, this assembly of heat exchangers forms a C-shaped array which partially surrounds a volume. Fan 22 is positioned at the rear end of this volume and fan 22 thereby draws air though radiator 60, charge air cooler 62 and hydraulic oil cooler 64.

As best seen in FIG. 1, a fuel cooler 70 is mounted in front of radiator 60 and an air conditioning condenser 72 is mounted between the radiator 60 and the fuel cooler 70. With this system the first or front heat exchanger 60 is spaced apart from and in front of the fan 22. The second or top heat exchanger 62 is positioned between a top portion of the fan 22 and a top portion of the first heat exchanger 60. The third or bottom heat exchanger 64 is positioned between a bottom portion of the fan 22 and a bottom portion of the first heat exchanger 60.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 6, the fan 22 is surrounded by a structural fan shroud 76. Fan shroud 76 includes a cylindrical portion 78 which encircles the fan 22 and a flange 80 which projects upwardly from the cylindrical portion 78. The flange is attached to the rear side of a plate 82, and rear panel 40 of upper cooler frame 36 is attached to the front side of plate 82. As a result, the fan shroud 76 forms a structural support for at least the rear end of top heat exchanger 62.

As best seen in FIG. 4, a right side panel 84 covers the space between the right sides of heat exchangers 60, 62 and 64. As best seen in FIG. 5, a left side panel 86 covers the space between the left sides of heat exchangers 60, 62 and 64.

With this design, the different coolers are distributed among multiple different stacks of coolers, thus increasing the effective air flow cross sectional area of the system. The increased air flow cross sectional area creates a lower pressure drop across the entire system. The lower pressure drop allows the system to flow more total cooling air through it. Each cooler stack receives lower temperature air than if there was a single stack of coolers. This also increases the efficiency of the coolers. Lowering the velocity of the air into each cooler stack also benefits the system by lowering the exposure to debris buildup on the coolers or on the outer hood screen.

This cooling system design maintains forward visibility while increasing vehicle power and heat rejection capability. Further, cleaning and assembly of the cooling package is improved over current state of the art cooling packages. This system also lowers the noise produced by the cooling system fan.

While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description is to be considered as exemplary and not restrictive in character, it being understood that illustrative embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected. For example, fixed or controllable air baffles could added to direct airflow distribution to various heat exchangers, and additional secondary fans could be added to boost airflow in desired locations. It will be noted that alternative embodiments of the present disclosure may not include all of the features described yet still benefit from at least some of the advantages of such features. Those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own implementations that incorporate one or more of the features of the present disclosure and fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. A vehicle cooling system, comprising: a fan; a first heat exchanger spaced apart from and in front of the fan; a second heat exchanger positioned between a top portion of the fan and a top portion of the first heat exchanger; and a third heat exchanger positioned between a bottom portion of the fan and a bottom portion of the first heat exchanger.
 2. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein: a fan shroud surrounds the fan; and the second heat exchanger having a housing which is attached to the fan shroud, the fan shroud forming a structural support for a portion of the top heat exchanger.
 3. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein: the first heat exchanger comprises a radiator; the second heat exchanger comprises a charge air cooler; and the third heat exchanger comprises a hydraulic oil cooler.
 4. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein: a bracket supports a first cooler fame and a bottom cooler frame.
 5. The cooling system of claim 4, wherein: left and right support arms extend diagonally upwardly and rearwardly from a front end of the bottom cooler frame to a rear end of the upper cooler frame
 36. 6. A vehicle cooling system, comprising: a fan; a fan shroud surrounding the fan; a front heat exchanger spaced apart from and in front of the fan; an upper heat exchanger positioned between a top portion of the fan and a top portion of the first heat exchanger, the upper heat exchanger having a housing which is attached to the fan shroud, the fan shroud forming a structural support for a portion of the upper heat exchanger; and a lower heat exchanger positioned between a bottom portion of the fan and a bottom portion of the first heat exchanger.
 7. The cooling system of claim 1, wherein: the front heat exchanger comprises a radiator; the upper heat exchanger comprises a charge air cooler; and the lower heat exchanger comprises a hydraulic oil cooler.
 8. A vehicle cooling system, comprising: a fan; a first heat exchanger spaced apart from the fan; an upper heat exchanger positioned between a top portion of the fan and a top portion of the first heat exchanger, the upper heat exchanger having a housing which is attached to the fan shroud; and a lower heat exchanger positioned between a bottom portion of the fan and a bottom portion of the first heat exchanger; and a structural frame, the frame supporting the first, top and lower heat exchangers, and the frame forming a fan shroud which surrounds the fan.
 9. The cooling system of claim 8, wherein: the first heat exchanger comprises a radiator; the upper heat exchanger comprises a charge air cooler; and the lower heat exchanger comprises a hydraulic oil cooler. 